This invention pertains to pouches and trays, particularly pouches or trays for medical and surgical equipment which must be sterilized before use.
In hospitals, clinics and doctors' offices, pouch-contained surgical instruments are sterilized by placing the pouch containing the desired piece of equipment, e.g., catheters, suture sets, etc., in an autoclave. The instruments or equipment can then be handed, after sterilization in the autoclave, to the user in a sterile condition in the pouch. The pouch is then ripped open and the desired instrument removed.
The sterilization pouches that are commonly used now comprise a sheet of transparent plastic bonded on its edges to a paper sheet. Instruments are removed by peeling the plastic sheet away from the paper sheet. Transparency is desirable since this allows easy identification of the desired instrument contained in the pouch.
One of the problems with these prior art pouches is that they cannot consistently withstand the rigors of autoclaving. For example, the paper is adversely affected by excessive humidity and moisture droplets. This leads to rupture of the pouch as it expands in the autoclave, or separation of the paper and plastic sheets. Further, the paper generates loose fibers and pulp when the plastic sheet is removed. This frequently results in instrument and surgical site contamination, leading to retarded healing, infection, and the like.
Further, incomplete separation, or separation along lines other than those intended, causes instruments to get hung up in the present-day pouches. The instruments must then be handed to remove them from the pouch. This may delay in-progress operations or result in impairing the sterility of the instrument.